If Apple does bring this projector to light (pardon the pun) –my money is that they will incorporate a projector into a new Airport Express. Especially since the patent filing specifically mentions that the device would also work as a router and wireless hub. In addition, the wording seems to indicate that the projector could also receive video feeds from other networkable devices. With Keynote and possibly PowerPoint coming to the iPad, it makes sense for Apple to have a new device to handle presentations. So if cell phones can function as a Pico projector, then why not an Apple device?

Valve also promoted a new feature of Steam called, “Steam Play,” giving players who purchase Valve games on either Mac or PC the ability to play on the other system for free. With the announcement of Steam coming to Apple, Mac gamers can expect other third-party titles to come flooding their way in the near future from game developers like EA, Activision, and SEGA to name a few who currently distribute their games on Steam.

Anyways, that’s why I slowly become a Halo cynic though I never became a Halo hater like some. This is all changing for me. After reading Game Informer’s recent article on Halo: Reach, I began to think that Bungie was coming back to their senses and realizing what made Halo an incredible game. Personally, I think they began to lose sight of this. My skepticism was further relieved after viewing Bungie’s video documentary on IGN. But today, after seeing their new multiplayer trailer for Halo: Reach, I am convinced that Halo will return as king of online multiplayer games (see video below). I already knew of the return of the scoped pistol from Halo 1 (here’s hoping it’s just as powerful), but now we finally get what Bungie has teased us in the past about – jet packs! This is the latest surprise and a huge one in my opinion. Other known surprises about Halo: Reach include: new weapons and vehicles, new contextual melee kills, and armor upgrades replacing equipment giving players certain abilities like speed and invisibility. As far as the story itself, most already know that the story of Halo: Reach is a prequel and tells the tale of a group of Spartans from Noble Team. Look for more details as new information is released.

Screenshot showing Jet Packs in Multiplayer

There are a few reservations I still have about Bungie’s balancing decisions and the color palette used in the game itself, but Halo: Reach just got placed on my must-have pile for Fall 2010 games. Those who have purchased Halo: ODST get access to play the Halo: Reach multiplayer beta starting May 3, 2010. I guess I am going to have to go buy ODST instead of renting it. Darn you Microsoft! You knew all along that I would have to eventually buy ODST.

First, let’s start off with the story. The boys of Bravo Company are back and bad to the bone, although at the start of the game you’re not sure since the game goes back to WWII to setup the plot. As the boys of B you’re off to stop the Scalar Weapon, which threatens national security. Along the way you fight through jungles, deserts and snowy mountains before you can get home and enjoy a little R&R (at least that’s what you think). The story is much better than the first game though it seems to have some pacing issues due to cutscenes constantly pulling you out of the action every few minutes. The story also lacks that epic feel even though the dust and the Indiana Jones type music tries hard to give you that experience; but in the end, it just winds up coming short. The story however is not without merit. It is greatly enhanced by the game designers decision to channel your progression in a more linear fashion while still maintaining that open world scale of allowing freedom of movement.

As far as the single player game itself, there is an abundance to appreciate though the campaign itself is over within 6 to 8 hours depending on your style of play. Bad Company 2 certainly demonstrates how destructible objects can not only change your tactical approach to a mission, but also increase your level of fun as well. Vehicles are also a huge part of the game and are extremely entertaining in every aspect of the single player campaign. The other improvement to this sequel is that missions don’t feel as repetitive. Nevertheless, mission-types did not give me enough incentive to change my two weapons of choice.

The characters in the single player game are well acted and feature humor that doesn’t get on your nerves like the last game did at times.  Your characters will also make cracks that are clearly aimed at Modern Warfare 2 – things like snowmobiles are for sissies and heartbeat sensors on weapons. However, while your in-game squad mates are full of personality, your in-game enemies severely lack it (even the main antagonist). They also lack variation in that they all pretty much look the same throughout the game. Your squad mates aren’t without fault though. In fact, they seem to have some A.I. issues in that, unless they are moving to the next staging area, they will wait on you and you alone to engage the enemy and to trip trigger points, which at times seem too artificial. My squad also appeared like they were occasionally firing rubber bullets at the enemy since their barrage of shots didn’t seem to match my one or two shots that finally brought an enemy down. Speaking of the enemies, as the game progressed, it was like the enemy soldiers were only firing at me. My squad could literally be in front of me and out in the open and I could be behind cover; and yet the enemy’s rounds were only directed at me. It’s like the enemy’s A.I. couldn’t see my team. This doesn’t happen throughout the game just enough to make you feel like you’re being picked on. Another issue I had with enemy A.I. is the fact that they could see you through all the dust and debris but you couldn’t see them. And no, they we’re not using thermal scopes or goggles.

David Copperfield Eat Your Heart Out!

Technically, Bad Company 2 is overall pretty impressive though not perfect. For example, while outdoor environments look amazingly detailed with realistic lighting, indoor environments are bland and boring for the most part. Weapons handle well and appear more responsive than the demo; and also include better hit-detection and feedback. Having said that, I experienced moments where my rounds did not hit my intended targets, but instead bounced off some apparent invisible barrier. The game also suffers from a few other technical issues like bodies floating in midair and parts of characters going through objects in the game like walls. Also, from a technical standpoint, I am not sure why certain objects in the game can’t be destroyed like wooden crates. One last technical thing – frame rate and network connectivity all seem good.

Why Won't You Die?

The best part of Bad Company 2 (BC2) however, has to be the online multiplayer game. Unlike Modern Warfare 2, BC2 not only offers a wide range of driving and flying vehicles, but it’s also a much more tactically shooter requiring strategy and teamwork. The game also offers enough multiplayer modes to fit whatever fancies you have. In addition, maps are well layout as they are large – maybe a little too large at times, especially for deathmatch. But if you love playing sniper, then you’ll love the multiplayer maps of Bad Company 2. Sniper is just one class a player can choose from, ranging from your typical soldier, to combat engineer, to field medic and to scout (sniper). Other than points and rewards, players can also customize their multiplayer character’s load out (field kit) offering over 15,000 possible kit combinations between the various weapons and gadgets.

All in all, Bad Company 2 is a huge success over its predecessor. Though its single player campaign is much better than before, it is still not as epic as Modern Warfare 2. Having said that, BC2’s multiplayer can stand on its own, giving players an incredibly experience only a Battlefield game can offer.  I for one am glad for the changes and additions DICE has made to the game. I am also thankful to have a new multiplayer game to play online, especially since I am getting a little tired of the same old maps in you know what. Now if I can only learn to fly that darn helicopter.

The plot is about high school student Percy Jackson (Logan Lerman) who discovers after an attack by his substitute teacher looking for Zeus’ stolen lightning bolt that the gods of Olympus are real and that his dad is Poseidon himself. Percy is then hurried away by Grover (Brandon T. Jackson) his guardian satyr friend in disguise and mother Sally (Catherine Keener) who take him to Camp Half-Blood – a training camp for demigods like Percy. It is here that he learns about his power and is joined by Annabeth Chase (Alexandra Daddario) to rescue his mother from Hades and solve the mystery of the true lightning bolt thief.

While the overall plot is grounded in Rick Riordan’s book, it also takes some huge steps away from it as well in terms of Percy’s age, where they go and why the lightning bolt is stolen in the first place, which only reinforced my feeling that this movie was made to order with tweens in mind. Which is why I am a little bit surprised about some of the sexually suggestive humor. Not to mention the experience these apparent high school students had in Las Vegas, which for me was a real stretch. In addition, some of the settings in the movie made me think that they were also stretched in terms of budget. Settings such as Camp Half-Blood just didn’t seem to convey the type of mythical prowess you’d expect in a film of this nature.

Speaking of the film, there were definitely some fun filled action moments. But I personally found the overall film lacking in substance in regards to its characters. In spite of the actors and actresses good performances, you never really got to know the characters themselves or sense the depth of urgency as to what a war of the gods would really mean for them personally. This is unlike the Sorcerer’s Stone (Philosopher’s Stone), which allowed audiences a chance to understand who Harry Potter is as a person, what his struggles were and what he wanted out of life. I guess I just never felt connected to the characters or cared if they succeeded or not. And that brings up another issue about characters – what about the mythical figures themselves – don’t these classical characters deserve fair treatment? I mean, sure the movie shows us the sibling rivalry and selfish nature of the gods, and treats us to some of the legendary figures such as Medusa, but never do we get a real sense of their power and personality other than, “Oh yeah they’re real.”

If I had to sum up my experience with Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief, it would be this: it was like watching a high budget made-for-TV movie from Disney – a fun fantasy film mixed with some special effects – all in the hopes that tweens will beg their parents to let them watch it and buy the DVD.

By now, many of you have either played or at least seen the promotions for Mass Effect 2. If not, rest assure, you can believe all the hype. Mass Effect 2 is a brilliant game, a landmark title that has raised the bar in terms of story, character development, and user interaction. It has also demonstrated how one can blend various game genres such as RPG, shooter, action, and adventure into a well balanced and uniformed product. In short, Mass Effect 2 deserves all the critical praise it has received. And to their credit, BioWare has also addressed pretty much every issue that was raised about its first Mass Effect game. But having taking another look at Mass Effect 2, I would like to offer the following gripes about this must play game:

Gripe: Predictable and Repetitive Gameplay

Let me be clear before I receive a ton of flaming comments. By predictable and repetitive gameplay, I mean just that – not story, not characters, not artwork or environment – no what I find predictable and repetitive is the gameplay. And by gameplay I am specifically referring to the shooting aspect of the game. In other words, when you see lots of cover and crates – you know you’re getting ready to shoot it out with the enemy. Of course, who or what you are going to shoot, and how many is far less predictable. But for me, the level of suspense was somewhat lost or lowered during missions because I knew I was going to have to: hide behind cover, shoot some enemies, move to the next area or room, shoot another wave of enemies, and repeat until the mission was completed. Of course, there is exploring and character interaction tossed in the mix of things, but this gameplay formula just got too predictable and repetitive for me.

Gripe: Poor Squad A.I.

Like so many other games featuring unplayable characters by your side in your quest to save the world – Mass Effect 2 is no stranger to dumb squadmates. Regardless of the two characters you choose to accompany you on missions, your A.I. squad will frequently: walk in front of you while you’re shooting; stay out in the open while continually being shot at until they need reviving; and stand on objects instead of taken cover. This is not to say that your squad is totally useless. On the contrary, despite their lame actions at times, they will fire on the enemy and make a huge difference in the outcome of the battle, especially if you use their powers correctly. The one exception to this that I experienced was when I went after the Reaper IFF. For some reason, my squad members had a hard time getting to me or staying with me on the narrow platforms during firefights – causing me to pretty much battle it alone most of the time, since they were either down or too far away to help. With that said, I am sure it didn’t help that I was running around like a madman trying to reload or recharge my shields with the overwhelming onslaught of enemies.

Gripe: Third-Person Action

Mass Effect 2 is essentially a third-person shooter in addition to being a RPG. But the character animations and controls feel a little stiff for my taste – almost robotic-like when playing.  This is okay while walking around the Normandy, but not ideal in heat of battle. And it also doesn’t help that the camera seems way too close to the character. Though the camera and controls of Mass Effect 2 are similar to Gears of War (something developers may have been aiming for minus the blind cover fire) it’s definitely not as technically sound as GOW during firefights. Players will at times struggle to either stick to cover or accidently leap over it. Don’t get me wrong – the third-person combat in Mass Effect 2 is a lot fun. It just gets frustrating sometimes to control your character and take in your immediate surroundings – making it easy for enemies to sneak up on you because again, the camera is too close to your character. Personally, when it comes to third-person action, I think Uncharted 2 has it right in terms of life-like animations, controls and camera placement. I know RPG purists are probably thinking that I should shut up and just be happy that the game has this much control over shooting, but oh well.

Gripe: Long Loadtimes

While I understand that Mass Effect 2 is, well massive, I was really annoyed by all the waiting around I did while playing this game. Perhaps I am just too impatient, but the long loadtimes affected my overall level of engagement. From waiting on the elevator to arrive on certain decks of the Normandy (except the captain’s cabin which loaded pretty quickly), to entering certain areas of the game, to reloading from a saved or auto-save point, and to waiting on missions to start – Mass Effect 2’s loadtimes can be incredible long. Actually, I can understand why there would be long loadtimes for the start of new missions, but not with resuming the game. I am sure from a technical standpoint – the loadtimes could have been affected by the limitations of the hardware itself. However, I think BioWare could have done more to speedup the loadtimes at least when a player is resuming the game just after being killed. I also personally think BioWare could have done more with the boring load screens featuring sci-fi graphics and sound effects. While I appreciate the hints at the bottom of the load screens, perhaps they could have taken that time to better educate the player by featuring information from the Mass Effect codex, character bios and powers, or some other pertinent help.

Gripe: Getting Around

The original Mass Effect had a drivable vehicle called the Mako that players either loved or hated. This ATV like vehicle was used on planet surfaces to find resources, which is now replaced with scanning a planet from the comfort of the Normandy. While the Mako’s driving physics had issues, the act of driving around seemed pretty boring. However, its replacement – the scanner – it not only boring but tedious as well, even with an upgrade. Add to this the galaxy map where players control a miniature Normandy like it was some corny arcade game. While I realize this was probably the easiest system to give players a way to navigate from location to location, I only wish BioWare had given the players a chance to truly pilot a vehicle during the game. Who knows, maybe it’s from my Star Wars: X-Wing or Wing Commander days, but I really missed being able to fly and battle it out in space. Yeah, yeah, I know – it’s an RPG and I am sure BioWare had to choose between Quality versus Quantity in terms of the features that made it into the final game, but I can still dream. Heck, they could have at least let us pilot the vehicles when travelling to different areas within the same mission. But having said that, unless it added another level of gameplay or interaction – this too would become boring. I guess the only way to have controllable vehicles in the game is to either offer random vehicle levels (like Modern Warfare 1 and 2) or offer true vehicle combat and control. Yet offering players controllable vehicles to get around in, may not only prove technically complicated, but also prove to be counter-conducive to the story, or the overall game itself.

So that’s my hype and my many gripes with Mass Effect 2 after taking another look at the game. There’s nothing here major enough to ruin the game. But sometimes when you get this close to perfection, it then becomes obvious as to what’s wrong or what’s potentially missing. Here’s hoping BioWare is listening and will address some of these gripes in their third Mass Effect game. In the end though, I am absolutely confident given their track record and dedication to this franchise, that Mass Effect 3 will be another must play game.

And now comes their new product, which really needs hyping – the Eye-Fi Pro X2. Introduced at last year’s CES and seen this week at the Macworld Expo – this must-have memory card is almost upon us. The Eye-Fi Pro X2 allows for high performance shooting with 8GB of Class 6 read and write speeds (i.e., super fast transfers) with a built-in 802.n wireless transmitter, giving you the ability to take your RAW, JPEG, and even videos to sites like YouTube and wirelessly send them to your computer (Ad Hoc) or online.

To top things off, the Eye-Fi Pro X2 also incorporates Geotagging capabilities. Which means if you don’t have a digital camera with this built-in GPS feature or one of those add-ons, then having the Eye-Fi Pro X2 gives any digital camera you use the ability to mark your photos with location metadata. This comes in handy, especially for those using programs like iPhoto or Aperture 3 that show the location of your photos on an actual map, which can then be incorporated into a photo album or shared through geoblogging.

The Eye-Fi Pro X2 is now available for pre order online through Eye-Fi or Amazon and retails for $149.99. Most likely it will also be found at such local stores as Walmart and Best Buy. Check back here for a full review once the product is released.

Google may change all that with their new initiative in the U.S. allowing 50,000 to potentially 500,000 residence to receive its 1 gigabit Mbps service, which is about 100 times faster than the internet speed most are getting with high-end packages. Google claims this ultra high-speed fiber network is to experiment with new applications and services, but it really could be their attempt to take over the world – just kidding.

If you want your community or city to be considered as a candidate for Google’s 1 gigabit service, please contact your government official or go to this website to nominate your community.

CONTEST CLOSED – congrats AROW

Your Caption: "___________________________"

As some of you may know, Amazon announced on January 31, 2010 that they would reluctantly bow to higher price E-Books with Macmillan due to Apple’s aggressive negotiations with them and other publishers. So instead of Amazon’s standard $9.99 for an E-Book, Kindle customers will now have to pay anywhere from $12.99 to $14.99 for a Macmillan title. While Amazon regretted this decision, they expressed their hope that other publishers will not follow suite – a move that is likely to happen because of the iPad.

However, as reported by the NY Times, it seems that Amazon is doing some wheeling and dealing of their own by there yesterday’s purchase of Touchco – a startup company that produces cheap, pressure sensitivity, multi-touch panels that allows for more than one user. This technology called interpolating force-sensitive resistance, or I.F.S.R, becomes more conductive as you apply different levels of pressure and also constantly scans and detects different inputs. This technology will then be implemented into newer Kindle readers to add new features to challenge the iPad. Who knows, Amazon may also offer customers with a colored display.

Only time will tell what the fate of the Kindle will be, but it’s apparent that Amazon is not going down without a fight! Personally, it’s consumers like us who will benefit from this sort of company competition.